When Jigar Naik made his debut in 2006 he became the first Leicester-born Asian to represent the county, playing against West Indies A. His offspin soon gained respect, with an ability to get the ball to hurry through off the pitch as well as bounce and turn on favourable surfaces.

Naik progressed from club sides Kibworth and Billesdon to Leicestershire Second XI and also played at Loughborough University. His breakthrough year was 2010, when he finished top of the national bowling averages after claiming 35 first-class wickets at an average of 17.59, including a career-best 7 for 96 against Surrey at the Oval. Naik and Claude Henderson took 87 Championship wickets between them.

He was Leicestershire's leading first-class wicket-taker in 2011 with 49 wickets at 31.18 and was rewarded with selection for the ECB's England Performance Programme, which enabled him to spend time in Sri Lanka. Injuries and unfavourable conditions limited his involvement in Leicestershire's 2012 Championship campaign and he also had bad luck in 2013 when he dislocated his shoulder during a T20 victory against Nottinghamshire, so missing the chance to make good a promising start to the season by bowling in one of the driest summers for years.

Leicestershire had seen enough to award him a fully-deserved county cap and their director of cricket Phil Whitticase even proposed him as a replacement for Graeme Swann but form deserted him throughout 2014 as he took only 20 Division Two wickets at 76 apiece and he made little impact a year later. By 2016, he was used - when he was used at all - as a T20 specialist.

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